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Water is a precious commodity, powering our household needs, yet costing a small fortune. There is also the environmental factor to take into account, so it’s important to identify those areas that are the biggest water users and then try and figure out ways to reduce usage and therefore reduce cost, plus save the planet all at the same time.
Who ever said multi-tasking was dull?
Energy planners in the US estimate that a typical household requires around 150,000 gallons of water per year to run their household for the general needs and gardens, which can be a lot of water. Obviously how much you actually use depends wildly on the number of people in the house, their usage needs and the size of the house, where it is, and what type of appliances you use and how old they are.
There are several biggest water users in each home, so let’s look at them and discuss how you can cut your usage.
Clothes washing
Around 22% of your yearly usage of water will be washing your clothes. Washing machines use a huge amount of water, much more than you might think and the older your appliance, the more water it will use. Conventional machines use around 35-50 gallons of water per load, yet newer machines use much less, at around 18-20, so you can see the huge advantage in swapping your old faithful machine for a newer one. Other than that, regularly check your machine hose for leaks, as this is one of the huge usage issues in households and only do a wash if you’re sure you have a full load.
Flushing the toilet
The biggest water users are arguably the toilet, with a rough 27% of usage literally disappearing down the toilet. Again, older toilets use more water per flush than newer ones, so again, update if you can. As for saving water here, only flush when necessary! Check for leaks regularly too.
Showers and baths
Baths are usually the biggest water users compares to showers, so the general advice is to have a shower more often than a bath. Despite that, showers again need to be regularly maintained to avoid leaks, with the appliances we’ve discussed so far, keep updated. Around five minutes is the general guidance for a shower length.
Dishwashers
Most modern day dishwashers are highly efficient and do reduce water usage as much as possible, however despite this, they do need to use some and this can mount up with regular use. To combat this, only wash when you have a full load or hand wash.
Leaks!
We’ve mentioned it several times so far, but leaks are a useless use of water and this is literally money down the drain. Regular maintenance should avoid this and replacing machinery such as dishwashers, washing machines, shower heads etc, when they become older will mean less chance of leaks and waste.
We can’t avoid using the biggest water users when going about our daily business; however this general advice will help cut it down to a minimum wherever possible. Call our friendly team at Oceanside Services on 07 5520 7100 for help!
